"Who wants cake?" Richard asked. His shirt said Facehumper. Everyone likedhis sense of humor. He was seventeen years older than me but it was mybirthday party.

He picked up a Sky Mall and began flipping through its pages quickly. "You seen these camouflaged fan blades in here? Turn any fan into acamo fan," he said.

Neely brought her androgynous tongue to my birthday party and went to workon Richard. "I won't tolerate your pussy slang," she told him.I loved listening to her run him down, but I later came to believe thatNeely's joke was a sort of clue, one that hinted at some secrets they'dnever let me in on.

Neely got her earring stuck in her hair. She wore ugly jewelry and when apiece broke she used a red epoxy. While some people considered her a genius,I still sought after the earlier model: fill a gap, extend an assumption, orcorrect something.

He didn't cry again until the three of us got to the hotel. Neely and I worenightgowns. I asked Richard if I could get him a beer and he started to crywith his mouth closed, it sounded like a woman laughing in the next room.Neely looked at him and said, "Oh, you're crying!"

The sun was coming up and Neely and I went after the shipment. Finally, theboss came and told us that there was a problem with the gas. He said wewould not ship that day, and to go home. We gathered our purses and walkedout past the men. They saluted the freedom that was all of ours. It wasspringtime, and we were tan.

My mother disagreed with me about how a book ended. She became angry andbegan to yell. Go back and read it earlier, my mother said. Then she diedand I'll lay a wager that she wasted her energies on some very pagan shit.